Fragmentation 1.10
(Michael Capris)
December 24, 2010
"Merry almost Christmas dad." Josephine smiled down at him, tears brimming her eyes. "I know it's been a while since mom or I have visited but I can't just leave you here alone on Christmas can I?"
He tried to smile back at his little girl, but he couldn't.
It's been two months since he'd last been able to smile, but a week since he'd last wanted to, when he was told by his wife, Andrea, that Josephine was coming to visit for Christmas. She was taking time off her job in Philadelphia, and as he and Andrea suspected, her new boyfriend. Andrea had told him Josephine had a new 'friend' named Chad, but he'd never heard of a nice Chad before, so he'd have to see if this was just a friend.
He wished he could tease her about it, remind her of the six gauge back home. Not her home anymore, nor his. Just Andrea's. Tears then joined his eyes as well.
She'd arrived early Christmas Eve and was staying until the 26th to catch him up on her life, as he couldn't really call to ask himself.
It was a tradition they set up almost two years ago to the day when he was first bedridden in the hospital. Andrea or Josephine would visit at least once every week and talk about what had happened in their lives, how the Joneses next door were doing, how his mother-in-law was handling dementia, or how Josephine's job search was going. His wife kept the schedule going, even while his not so little girl drove off and grew up. His friends from college stopped by every now and then, asking if he saw the game last night, even though they knew he'd never enjoyed watching sports, but it was a once a month thing, instead of the insistent mother-henning of his wife.
It didn't help that she was a first responder and knew what was going on with him.
Michael didn't understand exactly what was happening to him, but he'd seen the horror on the faces of Andrea's colleagues when they found him crawling on the road.
He knew it had something to do with the Ellisburg-Mannsville War that started almost ten years ago, but he didn't know for sure which side it was that had planted the bomb that gave him this disease. The doctors, after he and Andrea forced them to, told him that it may have even been a fusion of both parties.
The Necromancers, who lived in Mannsville, and the Goblin King, who lived in Ellisburg, were the factions in the war. Michael lived in Watertown, New York, about 30 minutes north of both cities, which happened to be the closest inhabitable city near the warzone. He had tried to take a shortcut home and made a wrong turn on Interstate 81 on the day he was afflicted with his, thankfully, non-contagious plague. Two years and some change ago, this turn led him to The Dome.
The Dome was actually spherical in nature, built to contain the war within its border, but the portion left above the surface gave it its name.
It was the second-to-last thing built by Sphere (posthumously revealed to be named Alan Gramme by his wife, Catherine Gramme) before his death fighting The Simurgh on his moon base, Lumos Alphos.
Alan Gramme was a man every father could look up to, both for what he did for his wife and two kids in his final moments, and for what he did for mankind during his life.
Alan's last stand began, according to his wife, when he'd realized he hadn't been caring for his family, having submerged himself into his Tinker work, with little acknowledgement for his two girls and his wife.
He'd been working on Lumos Alphos remotely when he reportedly overheard his daughter Sara telling her sister, Alexis, about the moon landing in '69. Alan had recorded it, and his wife released it to the public for the 5th anniversary of his death earlier this year, titled "Why Sphere Went to the Moon."
"-and then they went in this Biiiiiiig rocketship that went PSHOWOWAAUUUGHH and it flew into the sky with fire and explosions but not real explosions because that's bad, and that was to carry only three people in this tiny box that was on top of the rocket! And they flew it to space and the moon and then around the moon like WHEEEEEEE…" Sara went on and on, all while Alexis was giggling madly on the floor, her sister circling around her.
"And the three astronauts went around the moon like WHOOSH, KAPOW, except not KAPOOOW because that's a bad noise in space, except there's not noise in space, so Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Aldrin were sent to the moon by, uhhh… Hey Dad!" Sara stopped running to look at the camera "What's the third astronaut's name again?"
"Michael Collins, dear."
"Thanks dad!" She jumped to spin around towards her sister. "And Mr. Collins sent Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Aldrin to the moon while he stayed flying above it and they LANDED THE BOX ON THE MOON!"
"Really?" Alexis whispered with wonder up at her sister, who was nodding vigorously.
"Yep! And they barely had any fuel to get back! But while they were there the jumped around like this!"
The way she jumped always reminded Michael of a game Josephine used to play with her cousins, bouncing around the room yelling "Boing, Boing, BOIIIING!", trying to make the bounces as long as possible by pulling in her legs.
"I wanna go to the moon!" Alexis yelled out, giggling like a miniature maniac.
"Me too! But Daddy says people don't go to the moon anymore because of the… the… umm…. Bird lady thing." Sara responded just as vigorously.
"Huh," Alan whispered into his camera, turning back to his workshop, "Maybe…"
And the video cut off there. His wife once told reporters that Alan was so taken with the idea that he forgot to turn off the camera, so the following twelve hours of video, which was how long the battery had left, was nothing but Tinker nonsense,.
Eight months after that video was filmed, Alan reportedly asked his family to join him on a surprise vacation to a secret location, eventually, after being told to open their eyes to a rocket, revealed to be his completed biosphere on the moon. A week-long journey followed, in which Alan spent time playing games with his family and doing something he hadn't done since he'd gotten powers: take a break.
The Gramme family arrived to Lumos Alphos to find a glittering sphere of pure white, with windows dotting the surface, and a secondary sphere behind it, which, when questioned of its purpose, told his family it was a surprise. The family spent two weeks exploring the surface of the moon, all jumping as Sara had in the video, riding the rovers Alan had made, and having a very wonderful vacation.
It was interrupted, however, by the worst news they could have gotten. The Simurgh, in all her horrifying glory, was attacking their hometown. Apparently enraged by the lack of Sphere, the Simurgh turned to the moon, and headed for them.
Catherine had joked in an interview before falling to tears that even the Simurgh couldn't see Alan taking a vacation to spend time with his family.
But when the Simurgh turned and flew upwards to come for them, Alan Gramme, the soon to be world-proclaimed "Greatest Father in the World" turned to his family, kissed them all, then ordered his drones to put them in the last escape pod back to Earth.
"This is all according to plan, my dear," He had told Catherine, who was crying and shaking from inside the pod "I love you with all my heart, but a man must know when his time is up. Take care of Sara and Alexis for me, will you?"
As she nodded, he turned, went to the control panel, and whispered "I love you all…" before launching them back to Earth.
Nobody knows for sure what exactly happened after they were launched away from the moon and the Simurgh, but they do know of the outcome.
The second biosphere, named the Birdcage in Alan's notes, was a sphere not meant for sustainability, but for containment, and did just that. The Birdcage, Sphere's greatest masterpiece, was a trap meant for the winged monster herself, and ended the shortest and least deadly Endbringer attack of all.
With one casualty.
Alan Gramme, the hero known as Sphere, and the World's Greatest Father, was stranded on the moon with the world's most feared demon until his suspected death.
Their battle could be seen with the naked eye, the surface of the moon being littered with new craters individually made from pieces of a scattered Lumos Alphos, explosions going off all over the surface, and, with a telescope, the Simurgh with a face of pure rage.
The battle ended after an hour with quiet. Space agencies around the world reported stillness from the previous location of Lumos Alphos. There was no movement from the Birdcage, and no sightings from the Simurgh.
For all the man's faults as a family man before the vacation, Alan Gramme was good at one thing: getting the job done.
For thirteen months, there were no sightings of the Simurgh, no movement from the Birdcage, and sadly, no visuals on Alan Gramme.
Then, the Birdcage began to shake, and according to observatories in Mauna Kea, hop. The hearts of men and women across the globe trembled when the sphere jumped across the surface of the moon, and mankind was heartbroken to find that the winged one lived, even with a thirteen month silence.
Fourteen months after Alan Gramme's solo battle with the winged monster, the Simurgh broke out of her shell, scattering the pieces of the once-thought impenetrable fortress across the moon, and returned to Earth immediately attacking Houston in a fit of rage.
Alan Gramme had done the impossible and delayed an Endbringer attack by two months, and the Simurgh knew it.
For there wasn't a Houston, Texas anymore.
Michael still wasn't sure what came over him when he saw The Dome rise into the sky in front of him, but it led to where he was now.
He knew that'd he'd made a mistake when he saw it in the distance, but he understood how much trouble he was really in when he tried to turn around and hit a patch of ice from the snowstorm two days before.
He'd never thought he'd hate a white Christmas before, but there he was, skidding into the forest, past rusted fences, cursing at Christmas carols.
He remembered feeling a jolt after that, car stopping abruptly, and then speeding upwards as the car flipped multiple times. Somehow, between the flipping and the landing, he had crawled out of the car and stumbled to the road.
He next woke up in the hospital to the sound his wife crying behind the door to a sealed room he was inside, as doctors in Hazmat suits stood around him with odd devices. A mask was immediately placed on his face, and he felt his body writhe under the doctors' hands as he blacked out again.
It was three days later when he was allowed out of quarantine, December 28th, and his wife immediately grabbed him and sobbed in his shoulder. He looked at the doctor, panicking over the possibility that he could be contagious, but he just smiled sadly at the duo.
Michael began to cry as well.
The disease which inflicted him was an odd one, decaying all muscled in his limbs and starting on the others, but it wasn't supposed to be life threatening as long as he was in the hospital. He had overheard an intern discussing while he was supposed to be asleep that the plague was likely meant to immobilize prey before one of the Goblin King's minions needed food, and the thought sent shivers to his spine.
He couldn't feel shivers anymore either.
But it was Christmas now, and both Josephine and Andrea were there holding his hands. And even though he couldn't feel them, he appreciated the gesture.
This year they had gotten him the complete collection of Friends and its parahuman parallel, ParaFriends to watch, as he had missed the last season of the second due to his infliction. He also received the year's newest smartphone with an app for glasses that could control it by flicking eyes around. As they were the only working muscles other than the necessary ones left, he was thankful. He had DVDs and CDs from all of his and Andrea's friends as well as some audiobooks, and he was appreciative for those as well.
But there was something wrong.
Josephine wasn't smiling as brightly as usual, and Andrea looked out the window from time to time, blinking harshly every now and then.
'Tick tock tack tick' the new phone made noises as he typed with his eyes.
'What is wrpng?'
Andrea winced as she read the words, eyes tearing up once more.
"Oh honey… There's nothing wrong. It's just…"
"Goddamn it mom, stop it!" Josephine yelled as tears rolled down her face. "Stop trying to hide it! He needs to know!"
'Tock tack tick tock tack tock tick'
'What is goinh on?'
"Mom, if you won't say it I will." His daughter told his wife resolutely.
His wife, his beautiful, amazing wife, shut her eyes harshly and sobbed.
"This is… your last Christmas, Michael. We don't have the money anymore… and… Goddamn it…" Andrea cursed, and grabbed on to him in a hug as she sobbed anew.
Oh.
His tears joined his family's, as Josephine grabbed hold as well.
Oh.
I'm going to die.
His daughter cried out from his armpit, "You need to give him the date, mom. You have to."
'Tack tick tick tock'
'How long do I have left honey? No lies.'
His wife couldn't answer, as she was crying uncontrollably into his neck.
"The money runs out in three weeks, dad." Josephine was standing now, wiping her eyes. "The doctors say you can live for two hours without help from the hospital."
Michael realized that in her state, his wife would begin to sell essential things to make him last longer. He'd known she'd already sold his and her car, and was relying on her neighbors or public transportation to get to the hospital, but he needed to make sure she didn't sell more.
'Tack tick tock tock tack'
'Do NOT SEll the house Andrea, my lofe isn't worth the house being sold. 'A man must know when his time is up' remember.'
As Josephine read the message aloud, he felt Andrea freeze against him. Josephine noticed, and had frozen too as she finished.
"Mom… mom, please tell me you didn't…"
"Michael… oh Michael…" Andrea spoke from his neck. "I sold the house last month."
As she cried again, Michael had his turn to freeze.
His heart pounded in his chest as he repeated to himself: 'No, nonononono, she can't have, that's her parent's house, she can't have sold it, we worked so hard on it, it can't be gone, nonono…'
Michael repeated the words to himself as his heart pounded on, louder than his wife's words.
"Michael! Michael what's wrong! Doctor, what's wrong with…"
"Get out of the room, he's going into…"
As the words repeated in his mind, Michael's vision faded to black, and he felt PAIN.
A campfire flickered, shining warmly in front of him, casting a light across eleven other figures above him.
'Gurgle… POP'
'Was that me?' he thought.
The fish, no, Fish was sitting next to him and looked at him as he popped.
"Everything will be fine, just wait, you'll see."
He could sense the care in the voice, and turned back to the fire as it flashed at him.
He saw sparks flicker from the peak of the flame, floating skyward at a lazy pace, then lost sight of it in the field of stars above him.
As he observed them twist in the sky, he realized they were dancing, something he hadn't done for ages.
He remembered the first time he tried to dance with Andrea at a homecoming dance in senior year, and giggled as his vision faded once more.
PAIN
PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN.
His body screamed at him, burning with pain as his body writhed as it had the night he'd been put here, and he realized something else was hurting too.
He was screaming.
He could scream!
OH! He was screaming! And he could stop!
He opened his eyes to see his family remove their hands from their ears, looking at him fearfully. The doctor above him was looking at his body with fascination, all while calling others to the room.
"Doctor Freed, please come to room 7132, patient Michael Capris has activated his Corona Pollentia. I repeat, Michael Capris has an activated Corona Pollentia."
He could hear something below him exploding, spreading from below his left to below his right, seemingly moving from one side of the hospital to the other.
"Report! What is going on?" a voice yelled from the radio.
"We don't know! We lost contact with floor 5 a few second ago but we don't know what happened." Another voice replied.
"The morgue? Why would the morgue go silent? I'm going down there now, send back up if I don't respond."
"Sir, be careful! We don't know what Capris could have done!"
What… had he done? He awoke in pain, and felt something in him flicker on and off for some time, but it was silent now, as if awaiting activation.
"Alright, I've got good news and bad news, which first Bleiker?"
"Uhhh, good? No! Bad first, definitely, bad." The doctor in Michael's room spoke, as Josephine and Andrea approached him.
"Okay, bad news it is. Everyone on floor five is gone, suspected dead."
"Jesus…"
"All that's left are there purplish piles of… ash I think…"
"And the good news?"
"There are two bits. One, I'm alive." Bleiker laughed nervously from his side.
"And two, it hasn't spread anymore. Now we need to move Capris out of the hospital in case it happens again, and…"
"We can't do that," Bleiker replied.
"And why not?"
"He's, uh… a little attached to his bed right now."
What?
Michael lifter his head (He could lift his head!) to see that his body had, for lack of a better term, melted into the bed, and his new tech glasses had fused to his head.
'Pop, gurgle'
'Tock tick tack'
"Oh, the phone!" Andrea exclaimed as she ran to where he had seemingly thrown the phone.
'What happenedd?/'
"Well, Mr. Capris," Doctor Bleiker responded "It appears you are now a brand new parahuman."
Michael stared at him in shock.
"I'd tell you congrats, but you just went through a very rough moment, and I don't want to anger you."
'Tick splot tock tack'
'Whyt woiulds I be mafd?'
"Well," Doctor Bleiker continued "You, uhh, may or may not have accidentally killed all twenty four people that were on the 5th floor."
He heard Josephine whimper as another doctor charged in the door.
"Bleiker! We do not tell newly triggered patients that they killed people! Rule 21 exists for a reason! That could cause them to go into…"
Michael faded to black once more.
"Oh, you're back." The fire in front of him and fish next to him seemed to speak together "That was fast."
Michael glanced at Fish as the fire flickered on.
"Look kid, you probably just went through something pretty shitty, but I have to tell you something before you go, you most of all."
"Whatever you do, don't touch the flickering thing in you now, you're in a hospital, and if you do, everyone will die but you, got that?"
Michael froze, and nodded sharply.
"Right, so, normally, you're supposed to know what you can do before you return here, but you, uhh, didn't last that long."
Michael let them continue.
"You, my melting friend, can detonate dead bodies, or at least, that's what you used to be able to do. Now, you can detonate anyone moderately injured or dead with ease, as well as take more hits than usual, survive any explosion, and can take a dying would once for no further effect."
Michael was shocked, as he realized he actually was a parahuman.
With powers.
Actual, powers. With explosions.
"Right, that's enough from me, have fun, don't die, and say hello to Plant when you see him."
"Wait, wha…" Michael tried to speak and the Fish pushed him into the fire, and black consumed him.
"…fucking tell new triggers they killed people! Goddamn it Bleiker I told you 21 was important and now… oh, he's awake."
Michael creaked open his eyes to see three new doctors around him, as well as Doctor Bleiker in the corner being berated by the one from the radio.
"Right, he's stable, but his second trigger gave him something new, that we're not… really sure of."
"What happened?"
"His skin appears to have hardened dramatically, so much that I can't put my syringe in, his internal body temperature rose by about 90 degrees Celcius, and he uh… has a halo."
"A halo? Like art thou holy halo?"
"Yeah."
"Is this a message from God saying he didn't mean to kill twenty four people?"
Michael shivered, and was oddly pleased he could do so again. He opened his eyes again to see that his family had been removed from the premises, which he was both happy, and depressed to see.
"Right," Michael felt a light shine in his left eye, then his right. "Mr. Capris, can you tell us what happened?"
The doctor was holding the phone, so Michael went to answer.
'Tick tock tack tack tick tock tack'
"What's it say?"
'I'm sorry. I can detonate dead bodies, but I found the trigger now. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry'
"We know you are Mr. Capris, you aren't responsible for this, and we all know that, but please tell me one thing before we discuss the law." Doctor Bleiker spoke with the nods of his colleagues.
'Tack'
'Yes.?'
"Did it hurt when you fell from…"
"Goddamn it Bleiker."
Michael smiled for the first time in two months, and laughed for the first in seven.